Women And AdvertisingEssay Preview: Women And AdvertisingReport this essayIn the year 1999, $120 billion was spent on marketing products to consumers (Killing Us Softly 3). Along with products, the advertising industry sells the intangible: “Ads sell a great deal more than products. They sell values, images, and concepts of success of worth, love and sexuality, popularity, and normalcy. They tell us who we are and who we should be. Sometimes they sell addictions” (Kilbourne, Beauty and the Beast). When the average person is bombarded by 2,000-3,000 ads a day (Kilbourne, address), it is impossible to remain unaffected by the aforementioned concepts and stereotypes (Still Killing Us Softly, video). Ads use insecurities to promise betterment with the purchase of a certain product. They are breeding grounds for stereotypes; most, if not all, are negative. They provide impossible body images for women to strive towards, and sadly, many women do. The repercussions of these images and stereotypes are quite serious. The female body image is distorted, and many women and girls, in effort to reach the distorted image, develop serious eating disorders. The perpetuation of sex in ads creates a casual attitude towards sex. Sex is used to sell almost anything: from lingerie to makeup, perfume to food and household items. Advertising tells viewers that if they arent sexy, they are not acceptable. The female body is repeatedly objectified in advertising, and whenever a human is turned into a thing, violence is going to follow. Rapes and beatings often result from the dehumanization of women (Still Killing Us Softly, video). Advertising creates unhealthy and even dangerous stereotypes and mindsets in the people of todays society.
Advertisements play upon peoples insecurities, promising the viewer that, with the help of the product in question, the viewer can become a better person. There are many insecurities taken advantage of, but the most obvious and frequent is beauty. Women are strongly affected by this. After all, how could they not be when media is promoting a body type thinner, taller, and sexier than their own? Less than 10% of the female population is genetically able to be as thin and tall as the women used in the ads (about-face.org). Advertising sells an impossible image for most women. Many times there is an indirect message such as a beautiful woman wearing the makeup the ad is selling, but sometimes its more blatant, such as in one advertisement for Philips FLAT TV (see fig. 1). The text reads: “Introducing a television so thin it will give regular TVs a complex.” Not only is this extremely unnecessary to sell a television, but it is very offensive. There have been many people who claim that advertising doesnt affect them; they say that they dont let the images of advertising affect them and they dont buy into what theyre being told. $28 billion was spent on cosmetics last year (Ode, Mirror, Mirror). If no one buys into the idea that beauty is essential to happiness and success, no one would be spending so much money on products manufactured to enhance a womans looks.
Advertising enforces and teaches damaging stereotypes. “After all these years, advertisers have shown women in almost every mode possible it amazes me, though, that after all of these stereotypes, advertisers have yet to come up with a realistic woman that will leave no hang-ups or illuminate unnecessary insecurities (Friedrich).” Women are told through ads that they should first and foremost be beautiful and thin. Women are taught to seek power through beauty. Seldom is a woman encouraged to seek power and security on her own grounds, and it is hardly ever looked upon with approval when one does (Friedrich). However, men are encouraged to seek power through materialism: something that they can control much more easily than a woman her beauty. Almost all domestic items sold in ads are geared towards women (Still Killing Us Softly). The stereotype of the “domestic woman” still remains while the reality of it dwindles. Many women work outside the home, now, and the man and the woman are starting to share the responsibilities of the domestic realm.
Whether it is a woman portrayed in advertising as a housewife or a sex object, she must be perfect (Killing Us Softly 3). Women are taught that flaws are not beautiful, and that they must buy whatever will take them closer to perfection. They are almost always shown in positions that are sexually vulnerable and willing (Zarchikoff). When women are shown in a more take-charge, aggressive way, they are still only sex objects actively seducing the perfect man in the ad. This tells women that they are not going to attract a man unless they are willing to display their bodies and be sexually willing. They tell women that unless she has a perfect body, she isnt going to be attractive, playing on the fear of being alone for life. Women who are portrayed as working women are also shown as sex objects (Zarchikoff). This probably contributes to sexual harassment in the workplace. According to the advertising industry, “Women are considered acceptable only if they are young, beautiful, made up, sprayed and scented, carefully groomed, and of course with all unwanted hair removed. Women who deviate from this ideal in any way are viewed with disgust” (Still Killing Us Softly).
Ads have had a tremendous influence on our society. They have distorted the image of the female body type and beauty. Rudman, a columnist for Women and Health, said in a 1993 article, “Media definitions of sexual attractiveness promote either extreme thinness or a thin waist with large hips and breasts.” The problem with this image is that it is impossible for most women to attain. The body types of models are completely genetic: tall and very thin, and the only way models maintain a C or D cup is by implants (Killing Us Softly 3). Because of the image of thinness that permeates the advertising industry, 80% of women think they are overweight.
In reality only about 58% of American women are overweight or obese (Still Killing Us Softly). The worry about weight has begun at a very young age in the past years. Studies have shown that 31 percent of 10-year-old girls are afraid of being fat. The discontent with self-image can often lead to dieting, and dieting can easily lead to eating disorders. Even fourth graders are going on diets (Geidrys). It is estimated that about 7 million women in America have an eating disorder, and that 86% of eating disorders appear before the victim turns 20 (Thomas). There are websites that support anorexia and bulimia as “lifestyles”; something they can turn off and on at will (Thomas). Lauren Solotar, vice president of clinical services and operations at the May Institute of Walpole, Massachusetts, counters this mindset.
The Bottom Line: Why We’re Going to Make a Difference
The goal is to transform people around the world into more healthy, physically-weight-conscious individuals.
But the truth is we can and must do better.
By bringing people around the world to engage more with their bodies, we start to see more difference.
This can be achieved by learning more about our bodies through self-education, in-person workshops, or through online support groups that focus more on empowering body issues at the local and national levels.
Because what we learn, along with our bodies and our world, is not just what our bodies want, but what we live with.
And just as important, while there can be a change in a physical and mental state from the outside, it is also the transformation of our bodies in our own lives, from the inside up.
Body education is important.
The next important thing for American doctors, nurses, athletes, and other practitioners is a sense of health and wellness.
The same is true for our society.
Our bodies are not only beautiful.
Our bodies have a power, too.
It is our body that determines where we grow, when we walk along sidewalks, or run into people with our emotions, even our friends we love.
We can change lives.
So make a living in living with those who will and will not change. We cannot change a human existence by letting the same people influence our body.
Make a difference.
If you have a situation, you should go out and talk to a social worker.
Ask about what makes your body different, and ask about how it works around your body.
If you have problems with your diet and its effects, ask to see a doctor. They could help with what you’re facing, what you’re doing that causes problems, and who is treating you.
And if there is any doubt, then a doctor can help solve it.
Why make a difference?
It means getting to know people better like this author…
I know I’m not the only one with this concern.
It isn’t just the doctors at the Mayo Clinic and the other providers out there.
It’s every person out there.
It’s everyday in your daily lives.
It might even be in your bed, in your bedroom, in the corner, or anywhere you can reach in your living room.
Why should you be worrying about it?
You need this.
It means that others can see what’s happening at your place of work, anywhere you can see what’s going on behind the scenes or in your community—and it means being able to work harder and more efficiently at your job.
It means supporting other people who are losing weight as well as making sure they have safe, affordable and effective insurance.
It means working hard to get the best possible care at home with your partner or your family, but also helping those who need help in the long run with healthcare.
Being healthy and feeling a